TtOW! - Chapter 25: The Trial of Claws

The wulver are considered as savages who kill anything that moves but this misses a great deal of nuance.  Yes, the wulver are callous and bloodthirsty and should not be approached carelessly.  Yes, violence occupies a disproportionately large space in their culture, and they value strength above all other virtues.  However, they are, ultimately, a fully intelligent people with their own society and culture, albeit one with far different values from our own.

Take, for example, the often quoted and entirely misunderstood ritual of the Trial of Claws.  To the informed observer, this ritual appears to be proof of the wulver’s savage nature.  That only the strongest lead and authority is earned solely through combat.  But I don’t believe this to be the case.  In fact, the Trial of Claws is a tradition of remarkable restraint for such a bloodthirsty race.  What the casual observer forgets is that tribal warfare is extraordinarily brutal.  When human tribes of similar scale and sophistication as the wulver clans come to blows, the conflict often ends with the complete eradication of the losing party.  Its men and high leveled women are executed, the surviving women and children are enslaved.  So, if anything, we would expect similar conflicts between the naturally bloodthirsty wulver to be even bloodier.

But they are not.

The wulver possess a universally agreed upon method to settle disputes with a single duel.  Only a single casualty can end a war between two clans.  The losing clan is either peacefully absorbed with all its members intact, or may settle the loss with an offer of tribute, either of which is a remarkably lenient and restrained price to pay.

To me this suggests a surprising degree of collective self-awareness by the wulver.  That they understand their own nature, and have taken the necessary steps to keep their own fondness for violence from spiraling out of control.  That they are more than capable of respecting honor and tradition.  That they are not just savage beasts indulging in base instincts, but that they, too, consider the future and survival of their species.

-The Peoples of the Frontiers, Volume V: Turannia and the North, by traveling author and former Exploratores Placus Paesentius Statius

***

[Wulvers slain: 347]

NSLICE-00P looked out over the burning wall.  If the wulver horde made it any closer, she would not be able to guarantee her allies safety.  Should that occur, she would need to evacuate the pair.  Which was fine, she could always conduct hit and run airstrikes once Ateia and Taog were clear of danger.

The cyborg was just about to grab the pair when something changed.

Suddenly the wulver ceased their assault, backing up from the wall.  Taog’s eyes widened.

“Ah, Ateia, Seero, stop attacking them!”

“Requesting Elaboration.”

“They’re going to speak with you.”

“Acknowledged.”

NSLICE-00P (and Ateia) ceased the barrage.  The wulver split to the side, forming a pathway.  An exceptionally large wulver stepped into the corridor, approaching the wall.  He had scars all over his body, including one over his left eye, and massive muscles that seemed like they would rip out of his fur.  He walked with a heavy gait until he stood just before the wall.  He grinned, showing his fangs with a low growl.

“You…you’re not bad for a furless.  You’ve sure done well culling my pack.  You…may be worth hunting.”

He turned to Taog, growling once more.

“You there, mutt!  Do you speak our tongue?”

Taog frowned and narrowed his eyes but he nodded.

“So you’re not an entirely useless weakling, huh?  Relay my words to the furless.  I am Solamh Greumach, Great Chief of this warpack!  I wish to face her in the Trial of Claws.”

“Query: Please define term Trial of Claws.”

Ateia, Taog, and Solamh’s eyes all widened at that.

“Seero…you…speak wulver?”

“Query: Hostile negotiator is speaking a different language?”

“What…”

Everyone just stared at NSLICE-00P for a second.  The cyborg herself logged that question as an anomaly for further investigation.

“Observation: Queries on language deemed low priority under current circumstances.  Requesting response on higher priority query: define term Trial of Claws.”

Taog trembled but shook his head.  NSLICE-00P was right.  Confusing and concerning questions about her identity could wait until after the wulver warpack was dealt with.”

“So…Trial of Claws is essentially a ritual duel.  You and this wulver will fight one another, one on one.  If it’s between wulver it can determine leadership of the pack.  Since you’re an outsider that probably won’t happen but…if you win, you will be immune to further attack from this pack.  And without their leader…they will probably disband.”

“Summary: So if this unit engages in the duel and wins, hostilities will cease with entity ‘wulver warpack’?”

Ateia nodded at that.

“Yes…and this incursion will stop.  You will save countless lives…on both sides.”

Taog frowned as he nodded.

“That’s true but…it takes someone special to unite a warpack of this size.  You should be careful, Seero.  It might be wiser for us to run.”

NSLICE-00P’s robotic eye flickered and spun as she observed Solamh, activating all of her sensors.  Her analysis of his energy readings and physical state indicated he was about on par with the Ursanus Alpha.

In other words, she could definitely terminate him.

“Query: What is the probability that wulver warpack will adhere to Trial of Claws and its outcome?  Will friendlies Ateia and Taog remain safe while the Trial of Claws is in progress?”

Taog frowned at that.

“Wulver would kill you for asking that.  It’s one of their most sacred traditions.  They will not defy it.  And no member of the parties in question may harm one another, that is grounds for an instant forfeit.”

“Query: Please define terms and conditions of Trial of Claws.”

“Right…so it’s been a while but this is what my mom told me…”

Taog went on to explain.  The rules were fairly simple, a duel to the death within a designated area.  NSLICE-00P could use all of her arsenal but neither combatant could receive any outside aid.  In addition, NSLICE-00P would have a cap on how high she could fly, again to respect the designated boundaries of the duel.

“Acknowledgement: This unit has calculated the terms of Trial of Claws to be acceptable and is willing to engage.”

Solamh tilted his head.

“Um…”

Taog heaved a sigh.

“She’ll do it.”

Solamh grinned.

“Excellent.”

With the, NSLICE-00P carried Ateia and Taog out of the burning walls, which were agreed upon as the boundaries of the duel.  Her opponent leapt right over the walls landing in the center.  The wulver packed around the walls, eagerly staring at the two combatants.  Ateia and Taog gulped.

An elderly wulver called out.

“Warriors ready?”

Solamh grinned, letting out a low growl.

“Ready.”

“Affirmative.”

“...that means yes, right?”

The elder shook his head.

“Trial of Claws, begin!”

Solamh immediately took off running, sprinting straight towards NSLICE-00P.  The cyborg responded by lifting her machine gun arms and opening fire, magic circles forming around her to add magic missiles to the barrage.  Solamh dug in his heels and leapt to the side.  Some of the bullets and magic missiles caught him but unlike the other wulver they didn’t pierce through his HP barrier.

As NSLICE-00P had calculated earlier, it seemed Solamh’s defense was close to the Ursanus’s.

But he did not surpass the monster in that field.

“Equalizer engaged.”

NSLICE-00P transformed one of her hands, firing her rainbow beam at Solamh.  His eyes widened as the beam started to tear at his HP.  He snarled and stirred up his mana.

Suddenly Solamh’s speed increased, causing the wulver to dash to the side almost instantly.  NSLICE-00P responded right away, bringing the Equalizer back on target but Solamh dashed again.

“Observation: Target speed above predictions.  Adapting strategy.”

Several magic circles formed above her head, firing Light Beams across the field.  Solamh dashed away, only to be caught by the Equalizer once more.  He clenched his teeth and dashed once more, right into the path of a Light Beam.

At first he grit his teeth…

But then he paused…and then grinned.

Solamh began dashing once more, this time taking care to avoid the Equalizer beam, letting the Light Beams strike him at will.  He dropped down on all fours, running and dashing in a circle around the cyborg.  Lights continued to flash and beams struck his HP barrier but none of them dealt a debilitating blow.

Then suddenly, as the Equalizer struck his former location, he suddenly stopped and turned towards NSLICE-00P, leaping right at her.

Several Light Beams struck his chest but he ignored them.  NSLICE-00P brought up her hand to aim the Equalizer at him once more but Solamh had timed his attack well.  He arrived just as the beam approached him from the side.

He bit down at NSLICE-00P’s hand with all his might, and tore it off.

NSLICE-00P activated her thrusters and flew backwards but the wulver refused to let her take distance.  He rushed towards her, swinging claws glowing with mana.  NSLICE-00P hastily converted the Light Beam magic circles to Mana Barriers, weakening the claw strikes.  But she quickly determined that was not enough and activated the wrist blade on her damaged arm, the blade just above where her hand had been torn off.

“Activating Claw Strike protocol.”

The blade began to glow as she swung it, the wrist-mounted blade counting as a claw for the sake of the skill.  Thin arcs of light shot a few inches from the blade, striking into the much brighter arcs smashing through her barriers.  Her level one skill obviously couldn’t match Solamh’s honed strikes but her attack and her barriers combined offset his assault enough to prevent serious damage.

Meanwhile she redirected the Equalizer through her other hand and opened fire.  Solamh was forced to dash to the side once more, giving NSLICE-00P some breathing room.  She immediately activated her repulsors and shot into the sky.

Solamh crouched down on all fours and pushed off, rocketing into the sky after her.  She threw up a wave of barriers that barely gave her enough time to move out of the way.  She struck Solamh with the Equalizer on his way down but he curled up and spun through the air.  The glancing blows from the Equalizer were not enough to cause him serious harm.

NSLICE-00P’s robotic eye flickered and spun.  She opened fire with her flamethrowers and Fire Blast spells, an inferno washing over Solamh.  But the big wulver ignored the flames, leaping straight through them.  NSLICE-00P was forced to evade once again.

NSLICE-00P’s eye began to spin faster as she calculated.

For the probability of terminating Solamh was dropping rapidly.

And the probability of her being terminated was rising.

It seemed she had miscalculated.

When she equated Solamh to the Ursanus, she was considering the physical readout only.  On paper, the two were very close.  Solamh had the advantage in speed but the Ursanus had the advantage in durability.  She thought she could handle that difference.

But she did not consider the difference in mentality.

Solamh was no beast, fighting based on raw instinct.  He was an intelligent and highly experienced warrior.  He used tactics and strategy.  He could vary his approach.  He could identify and prioritize NSLICE-00P’s attacks, dodging the ones that could cause him serious harm and ignoring the ones that would not.

He was utilizing his advantages in raw statistics to their maximum.  As long as he took care to avoid the Equalizer, he could deal damage to her faster than she could deal it to him.

Her simulations of the current conflict were returning a sobering picture.

She immediately considered a withdrawal but there was a problem.  Ateia and Taog were now located within the wulver pack, safe only due to the rules of the Trial of Claws.  Should NSLICE-00P break those rules, that safety would be immediately revoked.  And with Solamh on her tail, she could not guarantee a successful evacuation.  She would lose her allies and her main source of intel.

So if at all possible, she needed to find a way to win this fight.

She activated her sensors to the maximum, analyzing Solamh as quickly as she could to improve her evasion efficiency, calculating different options to overturn the situation…

But she could not dodge perfectly, so with each pass, her HP was draining.  Solamh lost a bit too but he seemed no worse for wear.

In fact, he was grinning.

And the wulver pack started howling and cheering.

Ateia and Taog frowned.  They glanced at each other, their eyes trembling.

NSLICE-00P…was losing?

***

“Um, boss-queen, isn’t this…very bad-concerning?”

“Like…hate to agree with the snack but that wolf seems pretty strong, or something.”

“S-Shouldn’t we prepare to run-flee?”

“Like…we’re in the middle of a bunch of wolfmen…with, like, no cover, or something.”

“S-So….if the boss-queen loses, we’re dead-doomed?”

“...like, probably?”

“Stupid man-thing, run-flee!  This Great-High King cannot be allowed to perish here, no no!”

“That’s like, probably a good idea, or something, boss.”

But NSLICE-00P wasn’t listening to the two, for she had to devote all of her resources and attention to the fight.

Author’s Note:

Ugh, feeling a bit under the weather.  Managed to get this one out but we’ll have to play the next week by ear.  I’ll try to let you all know ASAP if I’m not going to make it any given day.

…what happened to the blatantly OP?  Why are we having a close fight now?  That wasn’t in the script…

Oh, right, NSLICE-00P only did upgrades as necessary for mission success probability…so she just sort of sat on all those upgrades after the Ursanus fight.

Anyways!

Can NSLICE-00P overturn the situation?  Will the story of the Great-High King be cut short?  Tune in next time, to find out!